What not to do the next time you go sell a load!!

This is basically for the newbies here,I think that it is very important to get the most for your load, that being said you have to talk to the yard boss or the scale clerk or some one before you unload your truck,do not leave it up to them to pay you for your goods,you separated your load and you should be paid for each item,unless all you are selling is tin/shred.Some times I go to sell and I might have 15 or 20 different items and I get paid for each of them,an easy way to do this is first get rid of the tin,back to scale get the weight then go to the nonferrous area, know what you have and tell them first I got blank and so on,watch the scale and write down the weight,let them know that you know the weights of every item,they will treat you much better,after twenty five plus years in this business mistakes are always made and for some strange reason they are always in the yards favor,watch the scale make sure they tare every item when you are done not when you turn your back to get the next item,that's just the reality of this business.

Great advice to the newbies. I write the tare weight in sharpie on all of my containers. It shows you have some idea of what you are doing.

Once in a while they won't tare some containers. They just punch in a standard weight such as 2 lb for a 5 gallon bucket and one place I went to just punched in 1 lb for a cardboard box. Even though they may weigh more.

and milk crates are 4lbs

1956 offers some great advice above for any newbie.

Would add that the "talk to the yard boss or the scale clerk or some one before you unload your truck" is super important, even for non-newbies. Ask, ask, ask.

If the person says for example, "no that's not irony aluminum" let them explain why. Maybe you know better, but they're the ones with the cash. Find out what they're thinking, so you can sell them what they want. You can always tell them, "OK, thank you, I'll take it back and break it down some more." And in that rare case where you think they're trying to put one over, tell them, "OK, thank you, I'll keep it. I got someone else I'll sell it to."

I would also add that until you have a working idea of what prices should be or if you are not sure call ahead and get a price and get the name. I remember starting out and I brought a few motors in and got .15# A guy on line after me asked what I got and he said you should get .25# Next time I called ahead was quoted .25# and the scale guy tried to give me .15 again. When I asked for the mgr and explained what happened I got the .25#. Come to find out a few weeks later the scale guy got fired for stealing. He was taking the difference for what he was shorting people.

I always call before I go to my yard and ask for pricing and the name of the person I'm talking to. I usually sell insulated, #1 and #2 copper and any aluminum or shred I have but sometimes I have items that I have questions about. Instead of taking 5 different buckets with assorted material I take examples of each and show it to them. We discuss what each item is and if it can be broken down more in order to get a better price and then we talk about the price. Like some said in the post above this one, get to know your yard and the people who work there. Don't be afraid to ask questions and never sell until a price is agreed upon first. Because of this I can go to my yard and tell them what I have and I'm in and out quickly.